Social housing structural warranty questions answered

An insurance-backed policy that pays for putting right damage caused by defects in the structure of a new or converted home for a set period after completion. The cover we arrange for social and affordable homes runs for 12 years. Cover typically includes the foundations, load-bearing walls, floors and roof structure, and many policies also cover the waterproof envelope. The policy wording sets out exactly what is included.

Usually no law requires one. In practice, funders and lenders often expect one, many lenders to shared owners and buyers ask for one - some accept a professional consultant's certificate instead - and for homes you keep and let it protects against the cost of serious hidden defects after handover. Whether a scheme needs one is a decision for you and your advisers.

Grant funders such as Homes England, and the equivalent bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, set their own conditions, as do private lenders to housing providers. We do not assume what yours require - check your funding agreement or loan terms and share any warranty requirements with us.

Wear and tear, maintenance, finishes and damage caused by occupiers are usually excluded, and policies have limits and excesses. Each policy wording sets out its own terms.

Yes. We arrange cover for schemes anywhere in the UK. Planning agreements, regulation and funding differ between the nations, and we take that into account when we approach providers.

Usually a warranty stays with the home and passes to later owners. Check the policy wording, confirm every home you are buying is covered and make sure you receive each certificate. See section 106 affordable housing warranties.

Shared owners normally buy their share with a mortgage, and each lender sets its own rules on which warranty providers it accepts. A provider the lender does not accept can hold up or stop a sale. See shared ownership warranties.

The unexpired cover normally stays with the home for the rest of the policy period, subject to the policy wording, so a shared owner who staircases, and anyone who buys the home later, benefits from the time that is left.

Yes. Each home usually gets its own certificate whatever its tenure, and the landlord should keep it with the property records for the whole policy period.

Before work starts on site, and ideally while the design is being finalised. Registering early lets the provider's surveyor inspect the foundations and structure as they go in, and it is usually the simplest and cheapest route.

Often, yes. Some providers will cover homes already under way, subject to evidence of the work done, and a few will consider finished homes. It costs more and needs more paperwork. Our sister brand Retrospective Warranties specialises in these cases.

The warranty provider's own surveyors or an inspection service it appoints, who inspect to its technical standards at key stages of the build. They work alongside building control and your clerk of works rather than replacing them.

Yes, many can. Providers look at independent assessment of the system, the factory's quality processes and installation on site. See modular housing warranties.

Usually each phase is registered as it comes forward and each home is certificated as it completes. See estate regeneration warranties.

As a rough guide, around 1% of the rebuild cost for new homes registered before work starts, around 1.25% for conversions or schemes already under way, and around 1.5% for retrospective cover on finished homes (with no broker fee on top - we are paid by commission from the provider). The provider sets the final price after reviewing the scheme. See affordable housing warranty cost.

There is no broker fee to pay. We are paid by commission from the warranty provider, which is included in the premium. Every quotation shows the premium and the provider's fees separately.

Our terms of business and a statement of your demands and needs, before any cover is bought. Then a written quotation naming the provider, and once the scheme is registered, the provider's certificates.

No. Social Warranties is an insurance broker - a trading style of Latent Defects, a trading name of Finance Delta Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We arrange cover on a non-advised basis, and the warranty is provided by the provider or insurer named in your quotation.